things I did yesterday, or six degrees of running

Yesterday I was a very busy girl.  I did a lot of stuff!  And lots of that stuff can be connected, albeit loosely, to running, so that's why I'm putting it in my blog.

1. I took a trip just west of my comfort zone.

Yeah, it was a little awkward yesterday...

So yesterday I went a little out of my comfort zone and met up with a new running group.  I thought I would give them a try so that I could meet new runners, run in new places, and maybe get a little faster.  I was a little worried about driving 25 miles to run with a bunch of strangers..... If I had to classify my personality type, I'd say I lean more to the introvert side of things. (The husband strongly disagrees and says I'm a shitty introvert.  Seriously.  That's what he tells me. All the time.)  He has a point, I can certainly exhibit extrovert traits but I guess it depends on the setting..... is there such a thing as a situational introvert?

It was a great morning for a run.  Snow was in the forecast so the air had that crisp, "something's gonna happen" feel to it.  Temp in the 30's and wind was not too bad.  We ran the Sibley trails along the Mississippi River....beautiful! The course was an out and back, and feels very secluded and peaceful.   I'd never been there before and really enjoyed it.  

For the most part.  (I'll get to that in a minute.)

At first, A la Bridget Jones, I felt a little bit like I was a singleton amongst a group a smug marrieds.  Everyone seemed to know everyone else! Eventually, the various paces broke off and I ended up running behind a couple of guys.  I asked if they minded if I tagged along with them and they were fine with it.  Pretty soon they started including me in their conversation.  Really nice guys; they've both been running since the late 70's early 80's, and one of them has run over 300 marathons. Three HUNDRED marathons. Yow.  They were fun to talk to.

Big girl that I am, I made it safely back to
my car. All by myself!!

Soooo, the distance planned for the group was 8-12 miles, but I was only planning to do 6.  And it turned out I was the only one running such a short distance.  So I ran with the two guys for the first three miles and then turned around and headed back to the start.  

Remember when I said the trail felt secluded and peaceful?  Well, secluded and peaceful quickly becomes secluded and creepy when you're all alone.  So I'm running by myself, envisioning all sorts of horrible scenarios and thinking, "Dammit, WHY didn't I bring my phone with me?"  Then I see that the trail splits into two different paths.  (Panic ensues.  I am notoriously directionally challenged and of course I didn't pay any attention to my surroundings what so ever when I was running with the pack.  I'm a dipshit like that.)  Is this the path I take to get back up to the parking lot?  How far did we run along the river anyway?  I walked for a minute or two, looked around trying to find things that I remembered seeing on the way out, briefly wondered how long it would take them to find my body and cursed myself for forgetting my phone AND my RoadID. I finally told myself to just pick a f#cking path already...... so I did, and low and behold, it was the right one! I made it back to my car, safe as a kitten. Winner!! 

I'll give the running group another chance.  It's that comfort zone thing......I think just I need to do a better job of introducing myself and finding running partners.  I'm sure they're out there.

Another dammit moment: the trail was a trail trail, not a paved trail, so I could have worn my sweet trail shoes.  Argh!

Um, I was running, therefore.....

Running connection = zero degrees of separation

2. Got attacked by snow pellets on a walk with Jane.

Jane waiting patiently for me to haul it up the hill.

So after I got back from my run, there was Jane, all excited to see me with my running shoes on.  (I had the shoes on, not Jane. My shoes don't fit her very well.) The snow had started to fall but it wasn't the nice fluffy pretty snow, it was the hard rain/snow mix pellets that HURT when the wind sends them smacking into your face.

But Jane would not be ignored so out we went.

Could you say no to that face??

And the wind did blow, literally and figuratively.  I haven't missed inhospitable winter weather! We walked about 2.5 miles in that nasty stuff.  It was just changing over to the fluffy prettiness as we got home.

I use brisk walks to save my joints but still push things aerobically, therefore....


Running connection = one degree of separation

Apropos of nothing, as the days get colder, the pets get flatter.
I posted this on Facebook last week and it
was pointed out to me that it looked like a crime scene.

 3. Had dinner with one of my oldest friends.

One in a series of failed self-portrait IQ tests.
We laughed like this pretty much all night.  AJ is so much fun!
And look - my eyes are OPEN!

My marathon buddy AJ was in town this past week to visit her family.  Hard to believe we have known each other for close to 35 years.  (That makes us old.)  We went out to dinner and got caught up with everything that's happened in our respective lives since we parted ways after running Grandma's last June.  Due to the amount of laughing we do when we're together, our abs always get a great workout.

After dinner we were planning to head to a club in Minneapolis to see the Suburbs.  Alas, the roads were too icy so we turned around and headed back downtown in the hopes of finding a good band to listen to.

There was no running involved during this visit, however, we once ran a marathon together, therefore....
Running connection = one degree of separation

4. I channeled my inner Mary Tyler Moore.

Perfecting the twirl...

Although we didn't have hats to toss into the air, AJ and I decided we could do a pretty mean impression of Mary Tyler Moore..... 

I'll let you be the judge.

Can't you just see the imaginary hat being tossed?

If you recall, MTM was a young career girl who could turn the world on with her smile.  

She could take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile.

Aaaannnnndddd, the big finish!

And what did I say to myself as I was closing in on the finish line at Grandma's??

You're gonna make it, after all!!

I live in Minnesota.

Minneapolis is a city in Minnesota.

Mary Tyler Moore's character Mary Richards lived in Minneapolis.

City Running Tours offers a guided run that meets at the Mary Tyler Moore (as Mary Richards) statue in downtown Minneapolis, therefore....

Running connection = four degrees of separation

5. I sang a Violent Femmes song with an Irish Band AND I should have been ready for my close up.

Bright lights....aaannnddd...ACTION!! The guy in
blue was filming the band.

Ok, I didn't sing WITH the band, but I did sing ALONG with them.  I only mention it because they were playing all of this fun, traditional Irish music and then out of nowhere, they tear into Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes.  The VFs were one my of very favorite bands in high school and college.  I LOVED them.  So that was great fun for me!  But don't you think it was weird that the Irish band decided to go that route?

And get this - there was a movie being filmed!!  Sadly, despite being the hottest cougars the oldest women hometown girls, I don't think we made the cut.   If only I'd worn my Monster Dash lipstick. I bet we would have been in like Flynn.

Dammit!

Running connection = I'm sure there's a connection in here somewhere.


So that was my day.  How did you spend your time yesterday?  Did try something new?  Make a fool of yourself?   I'd love to hear all about it!